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Tesla opens up Superchargers! - The future of EV's with Miss Go Electric
104 Plays2 years ago
Welcome to the Plug In For More podcast! Mike, Tom, and Bryant are here to help you on your journey to an Electric vehicle future. Each episode we discuss current events, trends, and a specific topic of education related to EV's. We bring together a diverse experience set, and pair it with guests who are experts in the field. For even more information on EV's, check out www.EVUniverse.com.
We're joined in this episode by "Miss Go Electric". This interesting conversation leads us down a path of her industry insights, and her view towards a path to a more electric future. Want to hear more from Miss Go Electric? You can find her by her handle of @Missgoelectric or follow the links below;
https://www.facebook.com/MissGoElectric
https://www.instagram.com/missgoelectric/
https://www.youtube.com/@MissGoElectric
https://www.linkedin.com/company/missgoelectric/
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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqXpv3fnOcv-robjLbDINFQ/featured
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome back to the plugin for more podcast. Uh, Mike and I are here to talk to you a little bit with miss go electric. We have an interview with her, which is a pretty interesting listen. And we also want to talk to you about it. Another big news is going on in the EV space, which is the Tesla superchargers are opening up to non Tesla owners.
00:00:17
Speaker
Welcome to Plug In For More, brought to you by evuniverse.com. EV Universe is your one-stop shop for all things related to the electric vehicle. Here on this podcast, our goal is to educate, inspire, and hopefully make your transition into the electric vehicle marketplace a lot less intimidating. And now, here are your hosts, Mike, Tom, and Bryant.
Tesla Supercharger Network Opening
00:00:43
Speaker
big news, Tesla supercharger network. I know a lot of people have been excited about this for a long time. It has finally arrived. Now, one thing when caveat when this hits the news, and I think if you're really in tune with what's going on in the EV universe, EV world, is that it is
00:01:02
Speaker
not for the full supercharging network it's only a small subset so don't get too excited right now it is only as of this recording only in a few chargers over in New York and then a couple in California so this does not relieve all of the pressure that is built up but it is
00:01:22
Speaker
It's a big deal. And I think we will see a lot more information coming out soon as far as how this is actually working. I think it's very slick from what we've seen so far. I haven't personally used it, but I'm excited to test it out with the Ruby. Right. And I'm looking at the app right now and I keep updating it daily to wait for it to like.
00:01:39
Speaker
Increase and go out elsewhere cuz you got like what 11 chargers that are in the state in New York Up through like Lake Ontario like I like area area. So that's pretty cool But by the end of the year, we're expected to see this pushed out closer to nationwide at least that's the promise which I don't know how much we take promises from Tesla, but
00:02:01
Speaker
always with a grain of salt. And hopefully the charging, the ones, the superchargers that they do open up are going to be in areas that are underserved from the other charging networks so that it can make nationwide travel a little bit easier. And it's not just cherry picked in areas that are going to be less utilized. There's going to be some issues. And I think we're already seeing some of that just where the location of the chargers are.
00:02:31
Speaker
But again, we'll get into more of that on future episodes. But it's big news. And I think it does bring a sigh of relief to a lot of people who don't own a Tesla.
00:02:43
Speaker
you're listening to the plug in for more podcast. If you're looking for information on electric vehicles, electric vehicles, components or information on how to reduce your carbon footprint. Look no further than ev universe.com ev universe.com is your one stop shop for all things related to electric vehicle.
Meet Misko Electric
00:03:04
Speaker
We're joined today with Misko Electric. She's an EV advocate and educator, someone in the space that we've been following and have been taking in some of our content and we're excited to have her join us here today. Welcome. Thank you so much. I'm excited to join you guys. Can you tell us more about yourself and what type of vision that you're bringing and your goals for the EV space? Yeah, so I actually have been in the automotive industry for just over a decade and
00:03:32
Speaker
My experience has been in not only training programs, but also new product launches and marketing programs for automakers and their agency partners. So I'm a partner in a company called Inscribe Interactive who
00:03:47
Speaker
uh, provides curriculum and marketing services for those automakers and agency partners. And when the pandemic hit, I couldn't do that job, but I still wanted to educate. And now that I'm very focused in the EV space, since I was on the launch program for the BMW I3, that's really where I kind of fell in love with all the EV technology. And I was an early, um, test driver.
00:04:13
Speaker
I had an early test drive experience with a Model S when that first came out. And I just was like, man, this is so exciting to see this technology move forward. And it really become a lifestyle change for drivers, someone particularly like me who travels a lot and has their car sit at home for long periods of time that they don't want to deal with maintenance or anything of that nature. So then I decided during the pandemic with my partner,
00:04:41
Speaker
Well, maybe I take this education to the internet and create a brand where I can educate more people on electrification, since that's what I'm passionate about. And since I already know the automotive business,
00:04:57
Speaker
why not have a female perspective, which I don't see much of in this unique position, create a brand to solely get people excited and more knowledgeable about the transition to EV.
Activism in Michigan
00:05:11
Speaker
So that's when I started Miss Go Electric was during the pandemic. And kind of like a springboard for that was I actually got an email since I'm an early reservation holder for a Rivian R1T.
00:05:24
Speaker
from the Arabian team and they sent out like a newsletter to the reservation holder saying, hey, there is this legislation that's getting introduced in Michigan, which we had seen in previous years when Tesla was trying to set up their direct sales initiative in the state of Michigan. But there was another bill that was coming through that they wanted to stop this direct sales movement in the state of Michigan.
00:05:52
Speaker
And I spoke up and said, well, I actually have very unique experience in this because I have been inside these dealers and I know a lot about this business. So I feel like I could do a little bit more than just send a note or a letter or email to legislators and prevent something like this.
00:06:12
Speaker
So what I did was I, I wrote back to Rivian and said, you know, I have this perspective and I really want to see EVs, um, you know, proliferate in my state, especially. So why don't I speak against this passing of this bill that was going to prevent direct sales for brands like Rivian and Lucid? Sure. So what I did was I, I went into the state capital and I said what I wanted to say. And essentially, you know, my stance is.
00:06:42
Speaker
Pro consumer choice. That's my main Initiative is although I love EVs. I think people should be able to choose how to purchase a vehicle and That was something that I talked about during that particular state legislator meeting and I had a recording of it So I put that on as my first video with miss go electric as kind of like the the launch of the brand It's a great video, by the way. I thank you
00:07:11
Speaker
It was a little intimidating going in there because I had not done anything like that before. But I just felt like since I was in such a unique position that I had to speak up. Yeah, I mean, I've watched it. I think originally when you first put it out and one, it's impressive. And I think what you the message was great and
00:07:28
Speaker
I think for everyone on this podcast, we agree with the message that you gave at the time, and hopefully it's just gonna continue, and there'll be less and less need for those type of discussions with the state legislatures, but we all know that that's gonna be an ongoing battle, at least for the near future.
00:07:48
Speaker
Yeah, it is a little tough just because dealers are, I don't think a lot of people realize this, but they're so powerful. They're even more powerful than the automakers. So when I was in the room with some of the representatives from the automakers and the dealer representatives, you could definitely tell that the automakers themselves were very shy to speak up and timid because they know that, they have to rely on the dealers and the dealers are even more powerful than the automakers in this case. So they have a lot of leverage
00:08:17
Speaker
And, you know, they employ a lot of people that are on the ground level. And unfortunately, more and more, we see that less lower salaries are coming in for these types of roles. And the turnover rate is really high, but the people at the very top are some of the wealthiest in the state. And there's a lot of consolidation happening. So there are these used to be a lot of small Ma and Pa type dealership
00:08:44
Speaker
locations, but they're just getting gobbled up. And especially during the pandemic, there was a ton of consolidation where the big groups like Lithia and AutoNation and things like that are just buying up all these small shops and becoming one giant dealer group. So it's a little challenging, but that bill is dead in the water right now. It did get passed through the House, but it died in the Senate. So hopefully it
00:09:12
Speaker
I've been keeping my eye out and making sure it doesn't come back, but hopefully it stays dead in the water. I guess when we're looking at some of the new things in the EV space, one of the main things that has come across, and a lot of people are aware of this, is the inflation reduction act, and especially used EVs. What's your impression of how that's affecting the used EV sales? What do you think that's going to do for adoption?
Inflation Reduction Act & Used EV Sales
00:09:38
Speaker
What's your overall pace?
00:09:39
Speaker
I think that when we look at the Inflation Reduction Act and not only the one with used EVs, but the new car sales as well is this was really seemingly a bill that was manufactured for propping up the automakers or mostly the dealerships in this case with the used EV credit to allow them to keep, you know, bring profit in and breed out, you know, beat out any kind of private
00:10:08
Speaker
Pricing or margins so for me. I I think that maybe it's not necessarily an EV adoption bill It's more geared towards the business side of things and easily it can be marketed as you know its celebration of EV adoption, but
00:10:27
Speaker
Yeah, I think that especially when we talked about the used EV credit, it's very limiting and it's only a seven kilowatt hour battery that needs to apply. So most of the vehicles that do qualify for this are going to be plug-in hybrids. We see the list of them on the IRS website and you see tons of plug-in hybrids available there and even hydrogen based vehicles.
00:10:54
Speaker
have the ability to claim it as well. But yeah, I think it's somewhat restricting, but I think it'll be probably good for the dealer groups and making a little bit more profit, forcing profit to their hand because that process happens right in the dealership.
00:11:10
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, one of the things that this always brings up, especially when we look at hybrids, my opinion is that it's just the worst of both worlds in a lot of ways. I agree. I mean, it seems like a great idea that you can, hey, you can go around town and just use electricity. And then if you go on a long trip, you can use gas. I essentially agree. The complexity of a plug-in hybrid, you still have all the systems that are potential to go wrong. So there's a lot of serviceability with them. I highly...
00:11:40
Speaker
I'm a firm believer that a lot of EVs on the market will definitely fit a lot of people's lifestyles at this moment in time. They just don't realize it and they're really scared of the range anxiety and worrying that they'll run out of charge. And you know what, there is a little bit of
00:11:57
Speaker
I agree with them to some sense with that because of the state of the infrastructure. Essentially, I think more people don't realize that the average commute for a driver is 30 to 40 miles a day in the United States, and so an EV, even the ones with a 250-mile range, and you're in the winter, it'll still work for your lifestyle.
00:12:20
Speaker
Now I am a bigger advocate for more range, um, and specifically more efficiencies to be able to get more range out of a smaller pack. Cause I don't necessarily think that make, you know, having a bigger battery pack is the solution there. We need to try to make it more efficient. Um, but I can definitely see as to why people might want to get a plug in hybrid because they want that sense of security. But overall, I think it's, you know, a lot of complexity that people don't need and.
00:12:51
Speaker
They will realize that eventually, hopefully, but also with plug-in hybrids, people don't necessarily have to plug in every single time. So are they actually going to utilize it? That's the other side of it is that some people might. And the other thing is when they go to a public charger, at this state, there are not as many as we would all like as far as charging stations go.
00:13:16
Speaker
Are those people clogging up? It creates some controversy there for the full battery electric vehicle drivers who need a charge and have to rely on the charging infrastructure, whereas those with plug-in hybrids are just going and getting a charge just because they need to. But they can plug in too, so what's the right answer there for them being allowed to utilize the infrastructure? Yeah, I think that's a great point. I've been at a number of Electra America chargers.
00:13:44
Speaker
randomly there'll be a plug-in hybrid that can only charge at a level two that will show up and want to give it a shot and of course it doesn't work that way.
00:13:55
Speaker
Um, so I mean, there's education in that regard. I was just going to say, I agree with you. And, um, the thing about this, I'm actually not the normal use case for an EV because I only do road trips on my EV. I don't do, like I would say probably 95% of the time I'm only road tripping in the car. So I am definitely an outlier in that case. I mean, you can still do it. I was also on a nationally televised show.
00:14:21
Speaker
on NBC Sports called Charge Across America. It was a rally where there were five teams competing against one another. And we had to drive in CCS compatible vehicles across the country from New York to LA and try to beat the other teams to make it the quickest. And my co-driver and I won, it was Ryan from the Kilowatts, if you're familiar with his brand. And so it is doable. And that's what a lot of people are like, well,
00:14:51
Speaker
You can't take an EV here or there. Well, I can tell you, I've been literally across the country many, many times. I've been from Michigan down to Florida and I'm starting to see this as education obviously is very important and that is my background and I'm really passionate about it because there's so much to learn about EVs.
00:15:10
Speaker
But to be fair, when you have a reliable charging network and the vehicle does that route planning for you in a seamless matter and you don't have to worry about how you're going to plug into the vehicle and get it to start charging, maybe necessarily you don't have to learn all these ins and outs of all of this terminology that is new. And I'm hoping that the infrastructure can get to that point where it is reliable enough and easy enough for people to just plug in and be able to walk away.
00:15:38
Speaker
you know, education is definitely key. And I think it really needs to be more focused in the dealership. So I'm on a program right now, actually, Nissan is my client, and I am educating their dealers on the new Nissan Aria. And I have found and this isn't just exclusive to any brand, to be honest, because I've been doing this for a very long time. But it seems to me that every single dealership that I go into, no matter what brand it is, there is
00:16:06
Speaker
Foundation of ev education that needs to happen because a lot of them believe in the ev myths or they've heard them and they're regurgitating them and they don't know the reality of it.
00:16:17
Speaker
and a lot of times when I come in there they're like yeah but you know this cold climate because I'm up in Maine right now and I'm like hey I live in rural Michigan so trust me I know how winter is with an EV and I've been you know an owner of an EV since 2016 so I know how you are perceiving this but I can tell you it's it is doable and it is an enjoyable experience and
00:16:44
Speaker
more people just have to realize that this is something that is attainable at this moment in time.
EV Infrastructure Improvements
00:16:49
Speaker
You hit on the charge across America and some of the infrastructure stuff, and we kind of loosely covered it all. But I want to hit it down again, because the charging networks and the CCS network is something to be considered, and it's something that really needs to be hammered home. And so I'm curious about your thoughts on that. What insights you can share for us?
00:17:09
Speaker
You know, I was on charge across America and we ended up winning in a Mustang Mach-E and no doubt we had some issues charging while we were going across the country. And in some cases it was a little worrisome just because, you know, one of the stations that we pulled into was the only station within about a hundred mile radius. So we had to charge there. Otherwise we were going to a nearby campground to try to plug in and get a real slow charge there. But when you're in a rally type,
00:17:38
Speaker
competition, you don't want to take that time, you want to go as fast as possible to get to the next spot. So there's definitely, you know, when I started the channel, I was really excited in a target for mine, as far as a partner to work with was Electrify America. Because I felt like they were one of the leaders in the public CCS networks that were
00:18:02
Speaker
getting installed throughout the country. And they were definitely one of the main networks that we used going across the country. A lot of the other networks are scattered mostly on the coasts and not a lot in the center of the United States.
00:18:18
Speaker
So naturally we were able to jump on their network and charge most of the way. I'm super excited about the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program where they're going to be built out every 50 miles on highway corridors. There's a lot of restrictions as far as you got to have at least four stations on location and they have to be at least 150 kilowatts for charging speeds. And I like the idea that they are forcing an uptime for the station, not just the location itself.
00:18:47
Speaker
So each station has to be above 97%. And I think that's going to help a lot. And we're starting to see those requests for proposals go out to the states. And we're going to see some installation and upfits for some of those that might qualify already with just a couple of updates. And this is going to be, I think, a big deal for EV drivers. And it's going to take a while for the stations to get installed over the next few years. But at least we're starting it
00:19:16
Speaker
this year and we'll see some start to go active. And then the response from Tesla, because they would like some of that federal money too, of opening up some of their supercharger network to be able to allow CCS compatible vehicles to charge on that network. And I think that's going to be a big deal because they are quite a reliable network. I mean, that's one of the reasons why I ended up buying my cars.
00:19:44
Speaker
uh, to Tesla's, I have a model S and a model Y. And so I think that that is going to be a big impact, especially because I think that they are going to go into the more rural communities where they can afford to put in the infrastructure for a little bit less than the others. Like for example, in the state of Michigan, we had our whole proposal come out for the nevy program and they were projecting that the costs of
00:20:14
Speaker
of the stations would be like $80,000 and that's just very expensive. And Tesla can do it for a fraction of the cost. So I think where it's going to cost a lot of money for some of those other vendors to go a little bit further out into the sticks, Tesla will be able to do it for a lot less.
00:20:32
Speaker
get more CCS vehicles in rural areas. You touched on something there that was, I think, very, very key in that legislation. And that's making sure the uptime for the individual charging stalls is up, I think it's 97%, versus just that whole location. There's a lot of media about that recently. And, I mean, you'll go to Electra America or other chargers, frankly, and you
00:21:00
Speaker
There might be, it might be up technically, but there might be three cars waiting for the one stall that's actually working. Really kind of want to drive that point home. That in and of itself, I think is a massive, massive deal that probably isn't getting enough press.
00:21:13
Speaker
in my opinion, as it should, that kind of, again, leads me to Rivian and some of the things going on there. And I want to get your thoughts on Rivian. Did you end up buying a Rivian? Cause I know you just mentioned you had a couple of tests. I'm still waiting. I'm still waiting. So yeah, actually I was.
00:21:33
Speaker
When I was going to the LA Auto Show back in the end of 2018, I think it was, right before I went to that show, I started looking at the map for the show and all of a sudden I saw this name on there. And being in the business, it's like I hear a lot of the news ahead of time, but I had never seen this name before. I looked at the map, I'm like, what is Rivian? So I Googled it and I saw their website and I was like,
00:21:53
Speaker
Are you serious right now i am so excited because in my off time what i do is i go camping i go hiking i do a lot of outdoor activities and i go out to the sticks where i need to drive car.
00:22:05
Speaker
and take my EV out in the middle of nowhere. And so I saw this brand on there that was showcasing this adventurous lifestyle. I'm like, this is me. You're speaking directly to me. And so I saw that they were gonna launch a product there. And I was so happy that I was just so happy to be in LA to go to the show. And I went to their stand and I was just so impressed. And then that moment in time, I was like, I gotta have one of these.
00:22:35
Speaker
And I talked to a lot of their engineers on the show floor at the LA Auto Show and they were telling me some information. They were keeping some things tight to the best, but I was just so excited when I first saw them. So I was like, okay, I got to put a reservation in for one of these when it's available. I reserved in an R1T and
00:22:54
Speaker
The way that I configured it was I wanted to get the max pack and the quad motor set up. I also wanted the power tunnel cover. I wanted the camp kitchen, all these things that looked super enticing and would fit the lifestyle that I live outside of work. And it's been a long, long few years. It's been a little frustrating because over time I've seen things get pulled away and taken off the list of, you know,
00:23:21
Speaker
what I originally ordered, like the power tunnel cover, the camp kitchen. Now they're encouraging a dual motor setup instead of the quad motor with the max pack and the max packs delayed. And for me, since I do so much traveling and I already have a couple of EVs that are in the 300 mile range category,
00:23:40
Speaker
And I'm road tripping all the time. I really wanted to get my next TV with a 400 mile plus range. And I really wanted this, this pickup truck with all these features. And so it's, it's becoming a little disheartening at this point because they've just been pulling feature after feature after feature. And I'm still waiting for that max pack and we'll see if it comes. Um, you know, they said February it's February now, but no, it's got delayed again. So now it's.
00:24:08
Speaker
It's going to be, you know, who knows when, but essentially I am going to wait for that max pack because, you know, I already have two EVs that can do the 300 miles of range already. So for me, it's worth the wait.
00:24:24
Speaker
If it eventually comes, I'm just getting a little bit nervous that they might then be like, okay, we're not going to do the next back anymore or something. Not be a really devastated, but I am, I'm still a reservation holder. I'm still waiting our podcast. The goal of it is to try to like reach that person who is like the new Evie buyer or soon to be Evie buyer or someone who's maybe like Evie curious of like wants to do it, but not sure, but like open to it.
00:24:49
Speaker
And looking for your input on what would be a real world expectations of where we're going to be in the next five, 10 years that's going to help give comfort to somebody who is still anxious about that transition.
Future of EV Adoption
00:25:04
Speaker
I think the national electric vehicle infrastructure is definitely going to play a huge role in making drivers more confident because of all the requirements for it and them having to be every 50 miles on those highway corridors that people are used to driving on to go on a trip. And that has to be deployed within the next.
00:25:21
Speaker
you know, few years, five years or so. And I think that is super important, but also getting the price point down on a lot of these vehicles and creating an opportunity for them to go EV in an affordable manner because the battery is your highest cost resource in the product. So, you know, prices are still quite expensive and we saw a little bit of a jump because of all the raw material pricing going up during the pandemic.
00:25:50
Speaker
But with these subsidies coming out with the tax credit, that's going to help get the price point down for consumers. And it's also going to create an incentive for the automakers to be able to create lower priced EVs because something that a lot of people aren't talking about with this bill is that automakers are going to have a subsidy of anywhere between $35 and $45 per kilowatt hour to produce the batteries here. And that's why we're seeing a huge rush of automakers
00:26:19
Speaker
trying to build these facilities to build batteries here in North America. And I think that is going to help as well to get those price points down. And then it's just going to be a matter of people experiencing them, getting butts in seats, as they say. And that's part of what I've done over the years. Once you get people in it and you educate them on the reality of their expectation of how they're going to live with a vehicle like this,
00:26:44
Speaker
then they start to fall in love and realize that this is actually an option for them to consider. And I tell a lot of my dealers that I train, we see that generally speaking across the industry, some of the best selling vehicles like the Toyota Camry or the Honda Accord, they're the best selling vehicles. Why? Because they're reliable, they're
00:27:03
Speaker
They are very low on maintenance and there's something that can get people from A to B in a manner that is, you know, affordable and reliable for them. And I think EVs will take the place of that. I really do. I'm very
00:27:21
Speaker
very convinced that most people will ship to EV because it'll be way more affordable than any internal combustion engine in the lifestyle of not having to maintain it nearly as much of an internal combustion engine, even the ones like a Toyota Camry or an Accord are
00:27:37
Speaker
definitely going to persuade them to do that. And the total cost of ownership, we talked about it a lot of time that it is much more affordable for an EV even at this stage. So once we can get the price point down, then I think more people will be so enticed financially to go with it, generally speaking. Yeah, I mean, I think that's fantastic. I think we wholeheartedly agree with all of that. I mean, for us,
00:28:06
Speaker
At our house, one thing that we really noticed too is when you make that full transition, it's just, you know, you're charging every day at home. You're not going to the gas station. You're not, you know, doing some of those things as far as maintenance for oil changes. And just the extra time that ends up eating up throughout the month and year. It's funny how you don't think about it, but once you get used to it, I definitely don't want to go back to filling up a gas tank.
00:28:31
Speaker
I agree. If you can match your dwell time with charging, even if you're just, you know, I tell people, if you don't have a home charger at this stage of the game, it's might not be the right fit for you. You could probably get away with doing it if you are, you know, one that researches it and stuff like that. But to make it the most comfortable and convenient experience, you'll probably want to get a home charger.
00:28:53
Speaker
and charge at home or you have workplace charging and that makes sense for you because you're going there every day to charge up. I wanted to thank you for joining us
Misko's Upcoming Projects
00:29:01
Speaker
on the podcast. It's been great to talk with you and I wanted to give you a chance to plug your outlets, your social media and whatever channels that you're a part of.
00:29:09
Speaker
Well, thank you. Yeah, I'm going to be doing a lot of really exciting things this year. I just announced that I'm going to be hosting the Go Electric Group Rides powered by Aventon, which is one of the nation's biggest e-bike manufacturers. And so I'm so excited. I will be announcing the places that we are going to be going to pretty soon. But I highly encourage you to follow along and join us when we come
00:29:33
Speaker
across the country to go for these electric bike group rides across every state. So keep your eyes peeled for that, but you can follow me on youtube.com slash Misco electric, but on pretty much any social media platform at Misco electric is my username. So highly recommend you give me a follow. I'm also on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter. So definitely follow along.
00:29:59
Speaker
And I'll make sure we get those links into our show notes for this particular episode so that our listener can find you there. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you guys. I really appreciate your time. Take care. Thank you for listening to plug in for more. Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes. In the meantime, check out the one stop EV marketplace, evuniverse.com. Until next time.